Alaia Skyhawk: And they're off again. I give credit for the opening scene to Sage of Spirits, whose comment about 'looking into' something about the 'Blue Wind Princess' would be interesting. That comment was the inspiration for that scene, and it certainly lets me expand on the riddles from the game in an interesting way (Note, the 1st riddle they came to I added the last line. The part 'To reach the Holy Seal, the blessings from the right and left of the giant thee must possess', I made that up so I could include the other two riddles, which in the game just gave you some extra items).
I don't own Tales of Symphonia so please don't sue me. I do however own Krishka, Dallinius (Dalli), Aluran, the Alurannai and any OCs, except Sanaro and Annule, who belong to Mr.Who2123, and Mika and Fiuras, who belong to WingedWithFireyMana, so please don't steal them...
Enjoy
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Chapter 37: There's Creeps and there's 'Creeps'
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It had been an interesting four weeks, travelling the length of Balcia and flying once again back over to the mainland. During that time Collette had gradually gotten used to being unable to feel anything, and no longer wore a cloak against the rapidly increasing chill as autumn began to take the lands of the Asgard Plains into its grip. After the release of the Seal of Wind the mana levels had risen once again and now Collette could fly on her own, though not for long before tiring due to the effort involved. It was just as well that Kratos had quickly made the modifications to her bracelets, for it was inevitable that during her flying practice she would fall and hurt herself in some way, though usually it was just bruises and slight grazing. Three people had been keyed in to those wards, Kratos, Vayla, and Raine. Lloyd and Sheena were left out, to prevent them being distracted during a fight, which was something that with their lack of experience they would still be very prone to. It was an arrangement that was working, and so it would stay as such.
The silver haired woman walked through the long golden grass, grass seared that colour by the now past summer sun. She was heading for a certain figure who was standing alone some distance from the camp, and whose auburn hair contrasted with that golden plain like a flame.
"Lost in thoughts again, Kratos... Back when we met I wondered what thoughts could burden you so much, but now I'm guessing that at these times when you go off on your own, it's to think about Cruxis and the Ritual... Isn't it..."
It wasn't a question, for they both knew she was right. Turning to glance at her with sombre brown eyes, Kratos spoke.
"I spent almost four thousand years at the heart of this system of lies, standing beside a man who had betrayed the trust of the Offspring Races. I watched Sylvarant and Tethe'alla suffer, what few things I could do to lessen that, minute against the total as a whole. I suppose my only consolation is what I consider to be the greatest of those small interventions. The Scriptures of Martel in their original pre-First Regeneration form were written by the First Seraphim, but after both worlds had been regenerated once, he had me re-write them so that the prologue was in past rather than future tense, and also to iron out a few minor inaccuracies here and there. He never did spot that one line I added. 'Martel, Goddess of Hope. She who cherishes all life and looks upon all with equal favour'... Cruxis has a Cohabitation Agreement with the Desians, meaning neither will make war on the other, war which would certainly result in the deaths of the two worlds. I however spotted a simple way to sabotage the Desians using the Scriptures, and that innocent and truthful statement. The Desian Grand Cardinals know that Martel is not a goddess, and they know that she did indeed cherish all, regardless of their race, despite the fact she faced discrimination on a regular basis for being a half-elf herself. That single phrase is what Phidra is now using to promote acceptance between the races here in Sylvarant. I've waited a long time for a Church Leader to have the initiative and will to use that. Cruxis may not force the Desians out, but the people can by simply accepting those that are different. If half-elves are accepted, they'll have no reason to join the Desians, and so that organisation will eventually collapse... Which incidentally pokes a huge hole in the 'purpose' of the Regeneration Ritual, but then again you don't see me complaining."
Raine regarded him, and then shook her head in wonderment.
"You're quite the schemer, Kratos. I knew from what Vayla said that you promise to be a remarkable leader for your people when time comes for you to become Narim, but I'll admit I never suspected the depths to your actions, nor the scale. You make small changes, carry out small actions, and while they do little in the short term you've actually planned them to have tremendous impact in the long. Most people look at things in the here and now, and perhaps a year or so ahead, maybe a decade. But for you to have written that however many centuries ago, with collapsing the Desians in mind, is mind boggling to say the least. It makes me wonder what else in this crazy system you had a hand in."
Kratos chuckled.
"The Trials at the Seals for one. I claimed to the First Seraphim that due to my 'friendship' with the alurannai in my youth, I'd studied the Temples in depth. That naturally made me the ideal person to design the trials and oversee the modifications to the structures... Back at the Mausoleum I was merely feigning that I didn't know the alterations or the riddles so that none of you would know of my past involvement. As for why I stepped in to design them, I was hardly going to let Cruxis have a free reign over changes to the Temples of the Forces. The Alurannai built them as places where the people could go to pay respects to the Force they most identified with. The changes I made are all things that will be easily removed once the Prophecy is fulfilled and this system is gone."
Raine stood beside him, watching as the sun slowly began to set, her eyes thoughtful.
"It sounds like you've needed someone to talk to. Someone who isn't as caught up in all this as you are. It must have been hard for you do live deceiving those around you for so long whilst in Cruxis, and even now you're having to conceal your past from Genis and Collette, and all the people we meet. Now you have a new face to turn to, even though I know for a fact you're still hiding a great deal from me. Don't worry about it, I know you have your reasons, and may in time decide you can tell me." Seeing his surprise, she smiled with amusement. "You're not the only person who hides behind a mask, Kratos. People tend to see me as a book hungry scholar who happens to be good at healing. I keep it that way, because it keeps those I don't want close at a distance. Only my friends and family see this side of me, and even then I don't show it often." Her smile widened. "So, are you going to tell me why you wrote those riddles like that? I'll admit I'm curious about where the 'Blue Wind Princess' part came from."
Kratos shook his head as she had done a few minutes ago, amused, before launching into an explanation.
"Long ago, when the Balacruft Dynasty applied for permission to bury their dead in the Sanctuary of Wind it was Yutis, the middle sister of the three Spirits that are The Sylph, who took the answer to them. Yutis has hair and eyes like deepest sapphire, and at that time it was Balacrucian custom to refer to the Sylph as the 'Princesses of the Wind'. Sephie was the Jade Wind Princess, Yutis the Sapphire Wind Princess, and Fairess the Rose Wind Princess. While Sephie and Fairess were happy with their names, Yutis didn't like the formality of hers, and so when she delivered the message she also requested that henceforth from that day she simply be the Blue Wind Princess. She is the one that created the key to the Mausoleum Entrance, and whose power returns the key to the Dais of Wind. Thus I thought it appropriate to use the old Balacrucian story that pertains to her, as the key to the various riddles I created.
"'Asgard is a sleeping giant, lulled by the song of the wind. Its ruby left hand, the red mountains, leads to the throne of the kings. Its emerald right hand, the southern forests, build the bridges that spread the power of those kings. It's pearl white left leg, the great mists of the plains, calm the earth and quench its thirst. Its topaz right leg, the shining light of the sun, enriches the earth of the plains and calls forth the life to which the land yields the water of the mists. And finally there, in its centre, lies the Wind Princesses that watch over it all. Though Jade and Rose were loved, the dearest to the people is she who would be diminished in name, humbled before them all as she brought blessings to the land and its kings. She who was Sapphire, yet became merely Blue. The Blue Wind Princess of Asgard'."
Raine was entranced. Hearing that 'riddle' in it's unaltered and full form brought to life in her mind a culture long lost beneath the mantle of the Church of Martel. She sighed.
"So much of the past has been lost beneath the lies. When I think what Cruxis and the Angels must have destroyed to keep those cultures so obscure to the people..."
Kratos put a hand on her shoulder.
"They destroyed nothing, for they were unable to find any of it. Old shrines, many of the texts from the Tower of Light, which is the true name of the Tower of Mana, the Alurannai hid them all. Ready for when the Prophecy is fulfilled and Cruxis will be no more. The First Seraphim was entrusted as steward of the Hourglass System, for that is what the two worlds interact like. He's betrayed that however, thus when the time comes the Alurannai will take him and Cruxis down. Even at odds of ten to one, angels against alurannai, the alurannai would win for our abilities are far more ranging than theirs. As it is, even if all of the angels were to stand up against us when that time comes, the odds will only be three to one. Cruxis remains only because the First Seraphim is in a position where he could destroy the worlds out of spite if we tried to take the system back from him. However, as soon as a new Giant Tree is born, he won't have that leverage anymore."
The half-elven woman's expression became serious, while around them the plains and sky continued to darken and the first glimmer of stars showed in the east.
"So the Alurannai and Cruxis are at war, what about the Desians?"
Kratos closed his eyes.
"The Desians are as much victims as the rest of the people, and in truth it's just a few at the top of their ranks that are truly deserving of punishment. The rest are there simply because with the prejudice and discrimination they faced, they felt they had nowhere else to go. Give them somewhere where they can live in peace, and they'd leave the Desians in a heartbeat. It's just unfortunate that we weren't in a position to give those at the Asgard Ranch a chance to do that. The Alurannai have a number of Safe Towns where the half-elves could go, but the circumstances of that raid made it impossible for us to give them that chance... As for their being war between Cruxis and the Alurannai, I suppose you could say that, though it was only twenty-seven years ago that Cruxis became aware of it. We've intervened from the shadows for a long time, doing what we could while keeping ourselves hidden. Right now Cruxis has no idea of how many of us are left, and so they leave us be. The First Seraphim will never strike out against us as long as the numbers remain uncertain, and as long as he has no way to make new Cruxis Crystals, the dwindling number he has left will make him cautious... Only the Offspring Races know where they come from, and we aren't going to be telling him anything. The Crystals he has were stolen from Aluran, from the great natural seeming deposits we hid in our lands, and that he later found. Right now, he has about two thousand left, from the near thirty thousand that there were in the deposits."
Raine closed her eyes as well, before opening them and looking up at the sky to watch the stars wink into life above her.
"I know I should be thinking that all this is crazy... or sitting in some kind of depression at finding all this out... But then I remember Heimdall, and how members of the Church were never permitted into the Y'mir forest, never mind into the village. The elves know the truth, I'm sure of it. That's why I can accept this, because it wasn't until I was fourteen and reached Iselia that I began following the Church. Even Milleisi, Ianir, and their friends didn't follow the Scriptures, at least not openly, so it wasn't until I settled in Iselia that I came face to face with them..."
Kratos sighed and turned to head back to camp, the sun now just a memory below the horizon.
"They know. They know everything... Thank you, Raine, for giving me a 'new face' to talk to."
She watched him go, as the last light faded from the sky.
"You're welcome..."
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"C'mon, Sis! Blow out the candles!"
Raine sat at the centre of a circle of four children, who were all prodding her either verbally of literally to get her to blow out the candles on the cake they'd made. Where the candles had come from she couldn't be sure, though by the smirk on Vayla's face she could give a fair guess. Twenty-six candles, one for each of twenty-six years... Twenty-six years old, meaning it had now been over fourteen years since she'd last seen her parents.
I miss them so much.
She leaned down, blowing out the candles as Genis and the others cheered.
But I'm sure I'll find them, or something about them, someday.
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"Well, here we are. Hakonesia Pass."
The mountain road weaved down the slopes below them, the peaks soaring above them on either side. It had taken five and a half weeks in all to get here from the Mausoleum, and now directly before them lay a small plateau that was cut in half by two wood and stone palisades with a deep spike filled trench before them. The guards watched them with wary eyes as they approached, and it was when they came close that the one stood above that point shouted out.
"Halt! State your business!"
Regarding the man calmly, Kratos called out with confidence.
"We are the Regeneration Group, escorts of the Chosen of Mana. We seek to travel though here on our journey to Palmacosta."
As proof of the legitimacy of the claim, Collette came forward with her wings glittering in full view behind her. The response was immediate, and yet it still seemed somewhat reluctant.
"Very well, five of you may enter, the other six must remain outside."
He didn't say as much, but it was clear he meant the four 'animals' they had with them were to be among those to remain where they were. Turning to the group with a look of bemusement, Vayla sighed.
"Well I wasn't expecting that, but there's nothing we can do about it. Lloyd, Genis, could you two stay with the Protozoans and the Spirits?"
The two boys shrugged, walking off to sit on a nearby rock with Noishe sprawled at their feet and the other three 'animals' arrayed nearby. The remaining five, Kratos, Vayla, Raine, Collette, and Sheena looked up at the guard to show they'd picked who was going in. The drawbridge lowered, staying down just long enough for them to pass within the palisade. The inside was rather surprising, a wide green grassy area crisscrossed with a few gravel paved paths and a single stone paved road between the drawbridges in each of the two huge walls. To their left they could see a small stable and a long low building that looked like barracks for the guards, and to their right was something completely incongruous with the fort-like constructions. It was a small two storey cottage with a tiled roof, surrounded by a garden that was filled with a rather odd assortment of statuary.
Ignoring the stares of the guard who had let them in, the five of them walked up to the cottage and knocked politely on the door. The shout from within was that of an old and rather irate man.
"What do you want! Useless guards! Always wanting to complain about..." The door was flung open, and as expected by the voice it was an aging man. His lank grey-brown hair scraped over the top of his head in an attempt to conceal his growing bald spot, small circular glasses perched on a stub nose that made him appear as stuck up as his manner implied. He paused for a moment glaring at Kratos, before letting out a sniff of disapproval. "Hmmph, come in and state your business... and close the door behind you!" He turned and walked away from the door leaving it open, walking stick thumping on the floor with every other step. After giving each other a glance, the five members of the group followed him in. Once the door was closed he stopped beside a table piled with all manner of antiques, sat down in a ratty looking cushioned chair, and put on a rather oozing smile as he regarded Vayla and Sheena who were by far the most well 'endowed' of the four women present. "Now what can I do for you?"
Off put as he was by the sudden change in attitude, Kratos began to explain.
"We're heading to Palma..."
"I didn't ask you!"
Kratos frowned as the old man glared at him, before shrugging and glancing at Vayla to indicate she should explain. She did, though not without regarding the old man as if he were some kind of slimy serpent.
"We're the Regeneration Group, and we're heading to Palmacosta so that Collette can perform her traditional task of leading a Prayer Day service there before we head to the next Seal. Thus we seek permission to pass through here."
Once again Collette brought her wings out, and by her expression she was uncomfortable with the smarmy regard she was getting as the man 'looked her over'.
His smile continued to ooze, giving the silver haired woman in the group the severe urge to slap him.
"Well now, for a pretty thing like you I can let you have a Hakonesia Permit for a mere eighty million gald. My family normally charges a hundred million."
They all gawked at him in shock as Kratos began to splutter.
"A hundred million gald for a pass! That's extortionate! Do you seriously think we have even the eighty million on us? No one carries that kind of money around in a group as small as ours."
The walking stick thudded on the floor as the old man once again glared at Kratos.
"My family has to pay for guards to hold this pass and keep thieves and bandits from using it... And if the Church will pay the hundred million per pass for the ones the pilgrimage tours use, then they can pay eighty million for a pass for the Chosen! If you don't have it, then you can either go to Asgard and get it or wait outside the gates until a pilgrimage passes through and come through with them!"
As Kratos resisted the urge to beat the old man to a pulp, Vayla began to mutter.
"A hundred million gald is enough to hire ten thousand guards for five years... and you only seem to hire a hundred. That's five hundred years wages for the cost of one pass... Paper passes, no matter the quality of that paper, with wear out from being carried during travel after eighty to ninety years at most. So even if people share the passes and they're used for that long, your family must be raking in far far more than is needed to maintain the guard on this pass."
Raine peered around the room, taking in what she could see.
"Though from the artefacts littering this place, and the finery you're wearing, I think we can tell where the surplus is going. What kind of practical person wears silk brocade while living this high up in the mountains?"
The old man scowled for a moment, before the slimy smile came back.
"Well, if you don't want to pay in gold you could always pay with a favour or two..."
He was practically drooling as his gaze settled on Sheena... Who began to flush as red as her mother with fury, the green of her sarren stark in contrast, but neither woman got the chance to retaliate. The next second Kratos had the old man lifted clean off the floor by his oh so elegant silk brocade jacket.
"I, Kratos Aurion, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Aluran, find your manner and your attitude offensive. While I may choose to hold my peace when you insult me, I will not stand by as you treat the women under my care as if they were whores. You can keep your filthy pass! We'll take another route, and in doing do deprive your precious pride both of the money and of the prestige of being able to say the Chosen of Regeneration passed through your family's lands... And don't think of pointing out or advertising the fact that she has indeed stood on your land, for a single word from me to High Priestess Phidra, offering for members of my people escort to the Pilgrimages, that travel through these mountains, over the unguarded passes, will ensure that no person will pay to use this path ever again..."
With ease he flung the old man back into his tattered chair, and then calmly exited the cottage while said old man gaped in shock like a fish out of water. Raine gave him a glare before following, as did Vayla and Sheena after regarding him with disgust. Just before she left as well, once she saw the others were well down the garden path, Collette strode up to him and slapped him.
"'Generosity before greed, others before self.' Chapter twenty-three, line twelve, of the Scriptures of Martel... If Kratos doesn't speak to my grandmother, then I'll see to it myself that the money that would have been used to buy passes is spent hiring additional guards for the pilgrimages instead."
She turned and stormed out of the cottage, just as a young woman rushed over to the group from behind the cottage. Her expression was mortified and apologetic.
"I'm so sorry about my grandfather. He's eccentric and cares little for others. Men he treats with distain, and women he thinks have little sense. I assure you, my brother and I intend to reduce the cost of a pass considerably as soon as our grandfather passes on. The antiques he hoards will cover the cost of hiring guards for centuries. So please, don't discourage people from using this pass, it won't be this way forever."
Seeing the desperation on the young woman's face, Kratos nodded.
"Very well, if you keep your word to reduce the cost of a pass once the lands are owned by you and your brother, then we will not give excuse for people not to use this road through the mountains."
The woman glanced at Collette, making it obvious that she'd overheard what the Chosen had said as well. Collette sighed.
"If you keep your word, I won't have anything said to my grandmother. You and your brother aren't the ones at fault, so as long as this place is run honestly you won't be made to suffer for his conceit."
"ELSA! WHERE'S MY DINNER!"
The woman, Elsa, winced.
"I'd better go. I know it's a terrible thing to say, but it will be a relief when his excesses end him. The doctor he had here a few weeks back warned him that he won't live but a year or two more if he doesn't change his habits, but he told the doctor to get lost. Saying that they clearly didn't have a clue what they were talking about."
"ELSA!"
She spun and trotted away, glancing back once.
"Thank you for understanding. Good luck, and may the Goddess smile on your journey!"
She disappeared around the back of the cottage once more, while the group walked away back towards the gate they'd entered through. When they got there, the guard up top came down as the drawbridge was lowered.
He lifted his visor and grimaced.
"I knew you'd be headin' out again. Since he upped the price for a pass twenty years back only the Church has bought any. My father served here before me and in his day merchants came through all the time, but now we don't even see bandits. Everyone uses the 'Devil's Gate' now, three days travel east of here. It's narrower than this one, and dangerous for small groups, but it's free. One of the 'Wanderers' came across it seven years back. Guy had the guts to follow a group of Desians to see how they were gettin' over the mountains. You're lucky you're here now, cos this be the time when the Desian's stop using it. They don't use it when it gets to autumn and the snows threaten up in these mountains. So if you don't mind some hard going, you can use it now without having to worry about em too much."
Kratos clapped the guard on the shoulder.
"Thanks for the tip, friend. May this winter be kind to you and your comrades."
The guard grinned in thanks, before waving them over the drawbridge and raising it again behind them. When they reached where Lloyd, Genis, and the others waited, the foremost got up off the rock.
"So we're going a different way. I can't say I'm disappointed." Seeing their confused expressions, Lloyd chuckled. "Ata's voice carries really well when he's mad. What a lecherous old geezer that man must have been. Treating you 'like whores'? If I'd been in there I'd have given him a good whack!"
Sheena smirked.
"You needn't bother, Collette slapped him before she left."
As Collette turned an innocent look upon a startled Raine, who hadn't heard the slap, everyone else began to laugh. When the chuckles died down again, Vayla turned and led the way.
"Let's get going. As satisfying as it would be just to fly over those walls Collette must follow the laws, and to do that would break them. A pity though, it would have been great to see that old man's face as we soared overhead."
With that they walked away, leaving the palisades behind them as they descended the weaving road to head for the Devil's Gate.
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The 'Devil's Gate' was a rather appropriate name for this pass. It was the one found by Mika and the Harriers all those years before, the one that was the Desian's main route for troops and supplies. Dominated by the Desians during the months when the pass was completely clear, now with snows threatening to begin blocking it, the tracks of many caravans could be seen marking the long slope up to the first split in the crags. Shoved to the sides of that slope were the carcasses of wrecked transports, many of them of Desian origin, the results of ambushes carried out by the Renegades over the years, with the rest being from ambushes carried out by bandits against civilians who braved this pass rather than try to squeeze their wagons through the narrower passes scattered along the mountain range. Those passes were little more than goat tracks in places, making Hakonesia Pass and the Devil's Gate the only two such paths were vehicles could get through easily. And with Hakonesia effectively blockaded for now by one man's greed, it was little wonder traders were risking this route. The extra cost to hire someone to drive a wagon over this route was the merest fraction compared to the cost of a Hakonesia Permit.
Now on their way up that slope, the group kept a watchful eye on their surroundings. It didn't matter that they were the Regeneration Group, from a distance they would look no different to bandits than any other group of travellers. It wasn't that hard going, not on this section at least, and after just half an hour they crested the top of that first slope and were confronted with the profiles of the mountains between them and the Palmacosta Region. The road disappeared among the rocks ahead, promising a hard and dangerous route for them to follow.
Regarding that road, and the obviously ambush aiding terrain, Raine looked concerned.
"Is it really a good idea to be taking Collette though there? Couldn't we take another of the smaller passes?"
Vayla shook her head.
"No, by the time we could hike to one of them we'd be facing getting snowed in before we were even half-way across. Kratos and I can handle any ambush we might encounter, and the footing is certainly going to be a lot better on this path than it would be for any of the narrower ones. We just need to stay alert and keep moving."
The carried on, and it wasn't that much later that they encountered one of the caravans whose tracks they'd seen on the slope. Twenty wagons were parked up on one side of the track, with various people settled around campfires in the fading light.
One of them spotted the group, getting up and waving at them.
"Ho there, Travellers! Be ye friend or foe?"
It was the old traditional greeting, and one with which the group were now very familiar. Smiling brightly, it was Collette who answered.
"We be friends, fellow Traveller! I am Collette Brunel, the Chosen of Regeneration, and these are my companions!"
A chorus of murmurs broke out among the people around the campfires, and soon they had all gathered around the group as Collette showed them her wings to prove she truly was the Chosen. Minutes later found them by the campfires, swapping tales of their travels with these people who as it turned out were one of the larger groups of the Carav'ners.
After swallowing the bite of bread roll he was eating, Genis waved a hand to get the caravan leader's attention.
"Have you heard from Arran, Sarah, David, and Claire? We travelled with them for a while when we were heading for the Ossa's Arm. We helped Claire paint her wagon."
The man, who had been introduced as Tarl, smiled.
"Aye, we did. They stopped in Luin before turning back and heading for Izoold again. Claire and David are still too young for this crossing and Arran didn't want to risk it. As it was they were lucky, they and us left Luin barely a week before it was attacked. We ferried extra supplies to them from Asgard, before heading this way again. The Traveller's District was still trashed when we set off again, but the Craftsman's District and two Residential Districts were pretty much restored. The people of Luin went all out, that's for sure, to get so much done in just a handful of months."
Accepting an offered roll, Raine sighed.
"It's good to know that they're alright, and that things in Luin are going much better. It's been over two months since we left Asgard to head for the Seal of Wind, and we'd heard nothing during that time being so far from the regularly travelled areas."
Tarl took a hefty swig from the mug of soup he held before answering.
"Aye well things are getting better, especially since the Asgard Plains no longer have to worry about the Asgard Ranch. The only Ranch that can threaten them now is the Palmacosta Ranch, and with this pass being the only way north, the chances of them carrying out any major raids are small." He downed the last of his soup. "Well, I'm off to get some shut eye. We'll be leaving as soon as there's light enough to see the trail by, and you're more than welcome to travel with us."
The group smiled their thanks, and following Tarl's example, they too settled down to rest.
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"BANDITS!"
Twenty wagons came to a halt, as bows were brought to bare upon the mob of scruffy men and women that were coming at them from all sides. The ambush was well planned, but centuries of knowledge passed down through the Carav'ner family meant they knew all manner of ways to deal with a raid. Even one of this scale. The bandits to the fore and aft of the caravan were ignored by the bow wielders, as those scrambling down the rocky slopes either side were peppered with arrows. Men and women tumbled screaming after they were hit, the sharp rocks finishing off those that weren't killed outright by the wooden shafts. To the fore and aft the large wagons, like the one that Arran had driven, were quickly manned by people from the nearest of the others, the sides unfolding and opening out to form solid barriers upon which lay an array of previously hidden shafts. At the flick of a lever those shafts, and the ones that were uncovered as the rapidly unhitched oxen were moved to safety, all lifted up to reveal themselves as a spread of steel tipped spears that would be impossible for the bandits to climb over without impaling themselves. That left only gaps to either side, and in seconds they too were filled right up to the rocks either side of the road with yet more spike laden panels braced by the very oxen that had pulled the wagon. With the bandits that had come from the sides now either dead or dying, those to the fore and aft could only mill around in shock at the fortress-like facade that had appeared before them.
Standing up on the driver's seat of the front wagon, Tarl called out to the bandits with a hand raised, while at the rear wagon his wife did like wise.
"You have two choices. Surrender or be brought down by Carav'ner arrows." Bow wielders leapt to the backs of the well trained oxen and pointed their weapons at the bandits. "Hardship and lack of work will have driven many of you to banditry, but if you come with us peacefully we will do what we can to find you a place to begin anew. There is not a city, town, nor village in all of Sylvarant that does not know of the mercy of the Carav'ners, that does not know of at least one man or woman who was led to a second chance by us. Throw down your weapons, and we will do our utmost to get you that second chance." In the moments that followed, just a handful of the bandits dropped their weapons. The rest, either sceptical or not caring in the slightest, made to charge the barricade. Tarl brought his hand down. At that signal, the twang of bowstrings filled the air followed by screams as all but those who had dropped their weapons were killed. In a gesture of trust to the handful remaining, the spiked barriers were folded away and the oxen brought back to be re-hitched to the wagon. Tarl jumped down and walked up to the survivors, stepping over the bodies with nary a glance. "C'mon, let's get you cleaned up while my men clear the road of this mess."
From their place riding on the middle wagon in the caravan, the group watched in awe as in total fifteen surviving bandits were given clean clothes and assigned to a wagon each. Each immediately beginning to be taught by the drivers and passengers about the wagons and how they led the oxen. As soon as the bodies were cleared from the road, and the caravan set off again, Tarl leapt up onto their wagon.
Still stunned by what they had seen, it was Kratos who had found his voice first.
"That was truly remarkable, Tarl. You dealt with the raid, gave them a chance to change, and even now your people are teaching them skills that will help them find work no matter where you put them. Skilled wagon drivers, truly skilled ones, are hard to come by. And ones that are taught by the Carav'ners especially so. Even those you teach in other things, like wagon maintenance and crafting, will find work easily. You told them you'd 'try' to find them a second chance, and yet in fact you've guaranteed them one. Drop them off here and there to spread the load, and they'll settle with no trouble."
Tarl smiled, a sad smile but also a satisfied one.
"Many merchants would kill all of the bandits regardless and leave them to rot by the roadside. That's unnecessary blood on their hands no matter how you look at it. We among the Carav'ners believe that to kill only as is necessary, and give those that surrender a chance, is a better than simply slaughtering them all indiscriminately. People these days say that a bandit that attacks a Carav'ner convoy is one that is blessed by the mercy of the Goddess Martel, for only with us would they be shown mercy. The irony is that while all other merchant and trade organisations would never show that kind of mercy themselves, and yet they still admire us for it."
Kratos nodded, glancing at the now cleared bodies as the wagon passed them. The Carav'ners had retrieved all of the still usable arrows from the corpses, practical as ever.
"Yes it is, if only more would stand up and show it themselves. Maybe then the senseless deaths of those so despairing of hope that they turn on others, could be prevented."
With that comment, Tarl left the wagon after giving Kratos a nod and then ran ahead to rejoin the lead one. Left with their thoughts about the swift killing of the bandits and the sparing of those who had surrendered, the group stayed silent for the rest of the day bar one thing said by Lloyd.
"It's just like the First Precept of the Alurannai. 'They who acknowledge their mistakes and attempt to correct them. Can be forgiven even if they fail, for at least they'll have tried.'"
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There was a faint scuff of boot on earth, followed by a firm nudge against his foot. Sitting up in his sleeping bag, Lloyd peered into the darkness outside the entrance of his tent.
"Wha? Ata, why wake me up? It's the middle of the night."
Kratos ducked down, now visible to Lloyd whose eyes had now adjusted to the dark. He had a very special smile on his face, the one that was reserved for special family moments.
"The skies are crystal clear for miles tonight, and I do believe we're very close to a large number of mountains... I made a promise to you long ago, did I not?"
Eyes going wide with joy as he broke into a wide grin, Lloyd scrambled from his tent without even bothering to change out of his nightshirt, launching himself into the air to follow his father up into the sky. Up and up they flew, engaging in aerial tag as they continued to ascend towards the top of the nearest mountain. Reaching it, perching on that very tip, Kratos put an arm around his son's shoulders and began to point out the stars as he named them. And then, after that, he led Lloyd in flying even higher than the mountain top, so high that to look at the stars they seemed so close in the crystal air that you could touch them. Here, so high up that the curve of the horizon could be seen in all directions, so high that to the east and west the oceans were visible on that horizon, Kratos gazed at the stars with his son... Fulfilling that promise from so long ago...
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Alaia Skyhawk: Aww, fluff moment. I've been waiting to do that end scene for ages.